Group berates heightened political tension in Osun, urges gladiators to thread with caution

The Osun Mastermind has berated the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress, APC and the Peoples Democratic Path, PDP for the heightened political tension in the State ahead of the July 16 governorship election.

Against this background, the group warned both political parties to thread with caution so as not to truncate the peace and tranquillity of the State.

The Osun Mastermind is a group of concerned stakeholders advocating for a better Osun State, comprising professionals with a view to contributing ideas that will help government take more people-focused actions, in line with the true ethos of an inclusive democracy.

Addressing journalists in Osogbo on Thursday, the Executive Director of The Osun Mastermind, Prof. Wasiu Ademola Oyedokun-Alli pointed out that the State was at a point of recording history and political gladiators must do away with politicking at the expense of the masses.

He said “Osun State is at a point in history, where political upheavals are characterizing the interpretations and perception of government action; we are at a time in our history, when whereas there are important issues of governance to discuss, gladiators in the political space are instead giving themselves to the pettiness of crude politicking and divisive actions. At such a time as this, Osun Mastermind Group is committed to championing developmental discourse.”

Oyedokun-Alli noted that the group is concerned about the debt profile of the state as incurred by the immediate past administration arguing that the projects claimed to have been embarked upon with the loans with the percentage of completion were not in anyway commensurate.

The address read in parts: “According to information available in the public domain, Osun Mastermind Group is reliably aware that from the year 2013, the State’s total debt stock grew from a total of 51.3billion to 178.33billion in 2018. We are also reliably aware that the total debt stock decreased from 178.33billion in 2018 to 174.94billion in 2020.

“We are first concerned that despite the humongous debt stock that our State had managed since its astronomical rise from the year 2013, the immediate past State Government under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola never deemed it fit to adequately brief the State’s people on the State of their State’s finances and the hopes for the near and far future.

“We are also concerned that despite the whispers in the corridors of power about the immense financial incapacity that the present administration under His Excellency, Alh. Gboyega Oyetola inherited from its predecessor, the present administration has also not deemed it necessary to adequately brief the State’s people on the true State of the State’s finances and what efforts the administration is making to keep the State afloat.

“Our questions are simple. One, what is the true total debt stock of the Osun State Government as of today? Two, understanding that the astronomical increase in the State’s Debt Stock occurred within the years that preceded the present administration, particularly from 2013 to 2018, the State’s people desire to know what the present government is doing to demand true accountability from the immediate past government, especially as developmental indices attributable to those years do not justify such humongous rise in debt stock.

“While the State has made some remarkable improvements in its financial sustainability ranking, moving from the 35th position to 13th, it is still important that the State’s citizens are given a clear understanding of how a debt figure nearing the 200billion mark, will be managed such that it does not again become the reason their welfare will be threatened as we saw in the previous dispensation, when government had to resort to salary modulation.

*ABANDONED PROJECTS*

“As functional members of the Osun society ourselves, we are aware of several abandoned projects littered around the corners of the State. While some are visibly abandoned, some others were made up to look like they were indeed completed, but a closer look reveals cosmetic completion.

“We are quickly reminded of the Gbongan-Akoda road dualization project awarded to Messrs RATCON Construction Limited in the year 2013. The 30km project awarded at a cost of 29.3billion, was scheduled to be completed in 18 months. According to a release from the Office of the State’s Commissioner for Finance and published in the Nigerian Tribune on 18th September 2021, “as at November 2018, the contractor handling Gbongan – Akoda road project had received a total sum of N10.2bn, out of which 3.5km of the 29km stretched road had been completed including the Gbongan Interchange and the project was at 29% completion”.

“A quick calculation of these figures reveal that as of November 2018, the Contractor (Messrs RATCON Construction) had received 34.8% of the total project sum, while only doing 29% of the job. Not forgetting that the project was awarded on a Contractor financing arrangement, available data shows that the Contractor was indeed being paid for work yet undone. The people of our dear State deserve to know the people behind these criminal actions.

“We are also quickly reminded of the 3.6billion reportedly spent on the MKO Abiola Airport, Ido-Osun, before another 69billion concessionary arrangement was made on same project. Today, the present State Government is reportedly handing over the Airport to the Nigerian Airforce to develop and operate.

“We believe that where State funds are expended in such profligate manner, there first must be proper reprimands before continued work on such projects. We must not institutionalize fiscal irresponsibility by shying away from properly reprimanding persons who mismanaged such State funds on projects that eventually get abandoned. These are the sorts of spending that got Osun into such scary debt figures without commensurate rise in developmental indices.

“The two projects mentioned are just a few out of the long list of abandoned projects all around Osogbo and Osun State. The Ikirun – Ila Odo dualization project, the Osogbo Ring Road project, the Dagbolu project, the Aje International Market project, the Osogbo City Stadium project and several others are projects that the Osun State Government, under the leadership of Ogbeni Aregbesola spent State billions on, without commensurate results.

“We should not just move on and re-award these projects without first letting the State’s people know why such wastefulness that is now ending in double spending, came to be and by whom.

*PENSION REMITTANCE*

“We are aware by virtue of our closeness to issues in Osun, that the present government in the State has only been able to make contributory pension remittance up to the year 2017. We are aware that this government commenced remittances of backlogs from the year 2014 and has since cleared three (3) years off the backlog.

“What beats our imagination however, is why the Osun State Government had to default in contributory pension remittance from the year 2014. This will mean again, that the immediate past government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola paid only lip service to the welfare of pensioners in the State, despite deducting pension contributions from the salaries of these pensioners while they were in active service.

“While the present administration continues to appeal to pensioners to give it more time, the pensioners also deserve to know the source of the delay. They deserve to know the persons who midwifed the deduction of their salaries without remitting same to the Pension Fund Administrators. They deserve to know the people who orchestrated the agonies they now pass through in trying to survive. When they can properly identify the people who impoverished them, the burden of their pains may then be easier to bear.

*REPORTS OF MEGA SCHOOL BUILDING INTEGRITY TEST*

“Recently, the media space in Osun State went agog with news of the government’s decision to conduct integrity tests on the Mega School buildings built by the previous administration, having seen signs of structural concern on a number of the school buildings.

“Unexpectedly, certain elements in the State went public with the narrative that the integrity tests were meant to ridicule the person of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola whose government constructed the Mega Schools. While this is rather unfortunate, we understand that persons who benefit from political upheavals will always find ways to attach all developmental issues to politics.

“However, having visited a number of these schools ourselves, we can confirm that it is visually clear that some of those school buildings were built in a manner that totally violates project quality requirements. How do you explain the fact that in the School Hall built in Fakunle/Unity Comprehensive High School, floor tiles are already peeling off, revealing ordinary sand in some parts of the hall? How do you explain the fact that the roof of the Wole Soyinka High School in Ejigbo is already caving in? These are just some instances out of many others.

“Where faults like this are visually noticeable, it becomes compulsory to investigate the overall reliability of the entire structures, to ensure that we are not unduly exposing the lives of our kids to danger.

“We call on the State Government to make the report of the Integrity Tests public and take appropriate steps to first make the buildings safe for use, then take further steps to ensure that the persons responsible for any shoddy job discovered, are made to face the unreserved wrath of the law.

“We reiterate that keeping the lives of our young ones safe is the most important factor to consider in this case, while ensuring proper reprimand of guilty parties is the second most important factor, to serve as deterrent to other such persons in the future.

*ESCALATING POLITICAL TENSION IN THE STATE*

“We have followed with absolute regret, the escalating political tension in the State. We are aware that points of disagreement exist within the two major political parties in the State, with certain elements within both parties taking steps that can unsettle the peace of the State.

“We note with regrets, the increasing exchange of invectives which may soon degenerate into physical violence, especially as we approach the primary elections of the two major political parties. We want to state unequivocally, that leadership is not a do or die affair and the game of politics must therefore be played in a manner that puts the peace and tranquility of the State first before any other considerations.

“If the contest is about service to people, then all aspirants must only sell themselves and programmes to the people, not attempt to blackmail, coerce or intimidate anyone. We call on all political actors in the State to make peace their priority.